§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the special educational needs and disability in education Bill will be introduced in Parliament. [127380]
§ Mr. BlunkettWe are totally committed to taking forward the education recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force (DRTF) and will legislate when parliamentary time allows, alongside our proposals to change the special educational needs framework. Our commitment to legislate on SEN was made in the Queen' Speech and remains in place. However, it has now become clear that it will not be possible to introduce a Bill this parliamentary Session.
The DRTF recommendations—crucial to our plans—were not available until December and required full consultation. Our consultation exercise on how to take forward the education recommendations of the report has revealed strong support for the broad thrust of our proposals, but there are some detailed issues which have required further consultation.
In view of the inevitable delay, and, without the option of carryover, we have decided to publish a draft Bill in this parliamentary Session, giving the opportunity for comment and feedback before introduction of the Bill.